BMW Coupé Tradition
BMW 8 Series (1989 - 1999)
The New 6 Series and its Prominent Predecessors
Press Release
The early '50s: introducing the baroque angel and the BMW 503.
Following World War II, customers had to wait until 1954 before another BMW coupé - a variant of the BMW 501 - came out of the severely bombed factory halls. With the chassis and engine still based on pre-war technologies, this car with its flamboyant appearance soon became known in common parlance as the "baroque angel".
Sales of the BMW 501 and its sister model, the BMW 502 featuring a V8 power unit, amounted to just 30 units of the coupe version, which again was not surprising considering the price of approximately DM 20,000 .- (which, at the time, was almost enough for a house).
The BMW 503 coupé entering the market in 1956 with a V8 power unit and all the conceivable luxury of the time such as leather upholstery and electric window lifts made sure that the Company did not forget its traditional coupé virtues. Outstanding designer Albrecht Graf Goertz was responsible for the sweeping lines of this masterpiece in elegance. A student of industrial design icon Raymond Loewy, Goertz created the most superb, unforgettable cars in the guise of the 507 roadster and the 503 coupé just mentioned. The only problem was that very few were able to afford the 503 selling at the time for DM 30,000 .- , production thus to just 273 units.
A small coupé coming out very big.
In 1959 BMW came back with another small coupé to promote the white-and-blue badge: the BMW 700 CS designed by Italian stylist Giovanni Michelotti. This little 2+2-seater full of Mediterranean charm was exactly the right model for the time, successfully filling BMW's order books. In 1962 it was joined by the 3200 CS luxury coupé styled for BMW by famous coachbuilder Nuccio Bertone. After production of approximately 600 units, this classic Italian car was replaced in 1965 by the BMW 2000 CS later to be followed by the 2800 CS and the 3.0 CSi. BMW was back in the luxury performance range!
On race tracks back in the '70s BMW muscle cars in colourful "war paint" showed the competition their huge rear spoilers time and again, with racing drivers such as Hans-Joachim Stuck, Brian Redman or Ronnie Peterson giving the many horses of the BMW coupé free rein.
The 6 Series - the most successful coupé in the history of BMW.
The wild years were over in the mid-'70s, BMW presenting the 6 Series as an elegant luxury performance coupé in reserved, understated design destined to achieve outstanding success in sales, with more than 86,000 models going to customers up to the end of production in 1989. Never before had a BMW coupé been this successful in the market.
The 8 Series coupé then following in the '90s, with sales of over 31,000 units, set an important technological milestone in the history of the BMW coupé with its 8- and 12-cylinder power units boosting the 8 Series smoothly all the way to 250 km/h or 155 mph and offering an exclusive group of aficionados an experience in motoring never seen before.
Source: Text and photos courtesy BMW AG
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